1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photographic processing equipment. In particular, the present invention is a management data system which is used in conjunction with a photographic paper cutter and photographic print sorter, and which maintains individual data for a plurality of operators of the paper cutter/sorter and for a plurality of photographic printers which supply photographic print paper to the paper cutter/sorter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In commercial photographic processing operations, very high rates of processing need to be achieved and maintained in order to operate profitably. To expedite the photographic processing, orders containing film of similar type and size are spliced together for developing. As many as 500 to 1000 rolls of 12, 20, 24, and 36 exposure film may be spliced together for processing and printing purposes.
After developing, the photographic film contained in the film negatives are printed in an edge-to-edge relationship on a continuous strip of photosensitive paper by a photographic printer. The photographic printer causes high intensity light to be passed through a negative and imaged on the photographic print paper. The photographic emulsion layer on the print paper is exposed and is subsequently processed to produce a print of the image contained in the negative.
After the strip of photographic print paper has been processed to produce prints, a photographic paper cutter cuts individual prints from the strip. The prints are then sorted by customer order, either manually or automatically, and ultimately packaged and sent to the customer.
Automatic print paper cutters have been developed which automatically cut the print paper into individual prints. These automatic paper cutters are controlled by indicia which are placed along the print paper by the photographic printer. Typically the indicia are of two types: cut marks and end-of-order marks. Cut marks indicate the desired location of a cut between adjacent prints. End-of-order marks, which typically appear along the opposite edge of the print paper from the cut marks, indicate the end of a customer's order. The automatic paper cutter includes a sensor which senses the cut marks and causes the individual prints to be cut from the strip at desired locations. The separated prints are passed to an order packaging or grouping device which groups the prints in response to the end-of-order marks which are sensed by the automatic cutter.
The desire for higher rates of processing within commercial photographic processing operations has led to the development of extremely high speed automatic paper cutters. One example of such an automatic paper cutter is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,887 entitled "Microprocessor Controlled Photographic Paper Cutter" by G. Strunc and F. Laciak, which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The automatic paper cutter described in this co-pending application is capable of cutting over 25,000 prints per hour (i.e. over seven prints per second).
Automatic print sorters have also been developed for use in conjunction with automatic paper cutters. Typically, the automatic print sorter sorts prints in an order into three categories: good prints, remake prints, and reject prints. A good print is a print which meets the quality standards of the photoprocessor and is saleable. A remake print is a nonsaleable print that can be reprinted with some combination of density and color corrections to become a saleable or good print. A reject print is a nonsaleable print which cannot be printed to become a saleable print.
An automatic print sorter typically receives signals from a remake/reject print sensor or sensors which senses remake print indicia and reject print indicia on the face of the remake and reject prints, respectively. These indicia are applied to the prints by the operator, who monitors the strip of print paper as it advances and the individual prints are cut from the strip. The automatic sorter includes means for directing prints along different paths depending upon whether a print is a good print, a remake print, or a reject print. This classification is done on the basis of the signals from the remake/reject sensor or sensors.
Despite the automatic operation of photographic paper cutters and print sorters, the amount of information available for use by management of the photoprocessing establishment has been relatively limited. One print sorter system which has a microcomputer control stores management information such as hours of operation by each operator, prints sorted by each operator, orders packed per operator, the number of prints per hour per operator, the number of orders per hour per operator, and the percentages of good prints, remake prints, and reject prints by printer. In this print sorter system, however, there is no differentiation between printer and operator in storage or display of the information. In other words, the system assumes that the same operator will cut prints from only one printer. If this is not the case, then either the operator totals and percentages or the printer percentages, or both, will be inaccurate.